By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

It’s 9:30 Thursday morning and the Oak Crest shuttle bus from City Neighbors Charter School in Northeast Baltimore City has been delayed.

Fifteen minutes pass and the shuttle finally arrives. A storm of second graders moves through the lobby. Smiles erupt and arms open wide as volunteers embrace their reading buddies.

Alternative way to learn
The Buddy Reading Program, a four-monthold initiative between Oak Crest and City Neighbors Charter School not only builds the students’ skills but also creates relationships outside the everyday environment for both the second graders and the volunteers.

Once or twice a month, depending on holidays, the students visit Oak Crest for an hour and a half. Dividing between Oak Crest’s three clubhouses, they bring their own books and keep the same volunteer each week in order to develop their reading skills and form a stronger bond.

“For the students it’s a different way to learn, a way of thinking outside the box,” says Operations Associate Danielle Bullock, who helped get the program up and running. “It also gives the volunteers an opportunity to give back to the community and serve as grandparent role models.”

Doris Gruenburg, one of the 23 volunteers and a former teacher, says, “It’s a good experience for [the students] to get away from school. It gives them a different view and a different picture of what life is like somewhere else.”

Pages of friendship
Cassidy Brigman, 7, reads each word of Welcome Precious by Nikki Grimes carefully, sounding out the words just as her reading buddy, Celeste Meares, has taught her.

“I like this place, and I really enjoy reading with [Meares]. She taught me what things mean in books and how to sound out words and the meaning of words,” Brigman says gingerly. “I like her because she is a nice lady and she, um…”

The young girl shies away, but Meares says with a reassuring hug and a kind smile, “We just like each other, don’t we?”